Oct. 12, 2022: BREDL has found that some water systems are not notifying their customers when PFAS is found in drinking water - even when concentrations are above the EPA health advisory limits. The excuse of not having statutory authority to require that water systems notify their customers is not acceptable.

Oct. 11, 2021: A review of ground and surface water monitoring reports submitted to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) by construction and demolition (CDLF) landfills shows that 1,4 dioxane has been found in ground and/or surface water at most sites. Of the over 50 facilities reviewed, over 40 show varying levels of 1,4 dioxane.

Aug. 11, 2021: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League urges the Department to consider the enactment of emergency, temporary, or permanent rules that require the following:

1. Testing and analysis be performed after a spill has been reported/detected, including the recommended time frame for such testing.
2. That water providers notify their users of discharges/spills immediately.
3. Additionally, that water providers notify users immediately of any detection of unregulated chemicals, as well as detection of other contaminants that exceed the regulatory limit.
4. The Department should post the results on the DEQ website and send out notices to their media/interested parties lists.

Sep. 17, 2020: BREDL comments on the proposed Addendum to the Consent Order Paragraph 12, which requires additional actions by Chemours to prevent PFAS pollution from entering the Cape Fear River via contaminated groundwater from the Fayetteville Works Site.

Feb. 03, 2020: The question is not should EPA add the family of PFAS chemicals and their short-chain replacements such as GenX to the Right-to-Know TRI reports. That's a definite YES! The question is why has EPA taken so long to address these chemicals? Unfortunately, a lot of contamination to our drinking water sources and impacts to the public's health have already occurred.

Oct. 20, 2019: The proposed changes to the Clean Water Act 401 regulation will lessen water protection by practically eliminating state and tribal input and authority to reduce, control and prevent deterioration of its waterways. EPA is overstepping its authority with this proposal. The proposed rule is a gift to industry and a death knell to waterways across our nation. This proposal should be withdrawn.

Jun 10, 2019: The EPA interim recommendations for addressing groundwater contaminated with PFOA and PFOS needs to be expanded to include all PFAS as a class. Any talk of cleanup needs to examine previous industrial sites that probably emitted/discharged PFAS chemicals. All areas of PFAS contamination – soil, surface and ground water, air and food – need to be properly addressed. In addition to the class of PFAS, short-chain replacement chemicals that convey similar health impacts – such as GenX – also need to be included.

The federal government is hell-bent on fast tracking projects that harm the environment. For a change, how about fast tracking a plan that will clean up the entire class of PFAS contaminants and their short-chain replacements?

BREDL Full Comments

Sept 26, 2018: On April 26, 2018, the Ashe County Watershed Review Board issued a water supply watershed permit for a site on the South Fork of the New River. The permit is an egregious example of a quixotic procedure by a local watershed review board and poses risks to the entire state of North Carolina. If allowed to stand, the legal precedent will be there for other county boards to carve loopholes in the law and sidestep water supply watershed protection. This would mean that drinking water supply for people across this state could be put at risk.

Fact Sheet

Oct. 22, 2017: On behalf of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) and our members and chapters in Virginia, I respectfully submit these comments regarding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) responsibilities to the citizens of the commonwealth concerning water quality as it relates to erosion and sedimentation issues from the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

BREDL Comments